Ge's Talent Machine the Making of a Ceo
GE’s Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO - Case Study
Report of Findings and Recommendations
For: Professor Ernest Jewell
MGT 500 Human Behaviorin Organizations
11/28/2011
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
Analysis 2
Human Resource Management for Growth 2
Communication 3
Recommendations 4
The Vitality Curve 4
Recruitment 5
Executive Brands 5
Lessons Learned 6
Meritocracy 6
Recruiting 6
Communication 7
Executive Bands 7
Conclusion 7
Works Cited 8
Executive Summary
GE, the world’s largest and most well know electricity producer and distributor had always excelled over its competition in many feats. Among them, was their ability to develop and sustain world quality managers and CEOs. What led GE to produce these talented and more than capable leaders was the amount of emphasis they drove in developing top notch management. Twelve CEOs since Thomas Edison as the inaugural leader of the company and many of them with major contributions to management development helped GE position itself to successfully maintain growth in both revenue and profit through most of the 20th century. Among those CEOs were Charles Coffin, Ralph Cordiner, Fred Borsch, Reg Jones, Jack Welch, and Jeff Immelt.
Methods implemented by each of these capable CEOs allowed for GE’s ongoing success. Coffin, who immediately succeeded Edison as CEO in 1892, spent the next 20 years devoted to creating a meritocracy within the organization to reward employees promotions based on performance. This became the foundation which went on the make GE “a CEO factory” (in 2003, Coffin was named “The Greatest CEO of all time” by Fortune magazine). Ralph Cordiner, committed to a thorough decentralization GE into 100 department-level businesses which increased company management efficiency. In addition to this contribution, Cordiner built the first corporate university dedicated to support management education and
Report of Findings and Recommendations
For: Professor Ernest Jewell
MGT 500 Human Behaviorin Organizations
11/28/2011
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
Analysis 2
Human Resource Management for Growth 2
Communication 3
Recommendations 4
The Vitality Curve 4
Recruitment 5
Executive Brands 5
Lessons Learned 6
Meritocracy 6
Recruiting 6
Communication 7
Executive Bands 7
Conclusion 7
Works Cited 8
Executive Summary
GE, the world’s largest and most well know electricity producer and distributor had always excelled over its competition in many feats. Among them, was their ability to develop and sustain world quality managers and CEOs. What led GE to produce these talented and more than capable leaders was the amount of emphasis they drove in developing top notch management. Twelve CEOs since Thomas Edison as the inaugural leader of the company and many of them with major contributions to management development helped GE position itself to successfully maintain growth in both revenue and profit through most of the 20th century. Among those CEOs were Charles Coffin, Ralph Cordiner, Fred Borsch, Reg Jones, Jack Welch, and Jeff Immelt.
Methods implemented by each of these capable CEOs allowed for GE’s ongoing success. Coffin, who immediately succeeded Edison as CEO in 1892, spent the next 20 years devoted to creating a meritocracy within the organization to reward employees promotions based on performance. This became the foundation which went on the make GE “a CEO factory” (in 2003, Coffin was named “The Greatest CEO of all time” by Fortune magazine). Ralph Cordiner, committed to a thorough decentralization GE into 100 department-level businesses which increased company management efficiency. In addition to this contribution, Cordiner built the first corporate university dedicated to support management education and
Cited: 1. GE 's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO. Bartlett, Christopher A. and McLean, Andrew N. Boston : Harvard Business School Publishing, 2005. 9-304-049.